The Left for Dead
by Left4Bed
Summary: This is gonna be my first fanfiction. It takes place right after the end of the Dead Center campaign. Rated T for excessive language and some themes, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1, One 4 All

**Whoo, My first fanfic, let's rock. I hope it's an enjoyable one, as said in summary, it follows right after the Dead Center campaign and goes canonically from there, tell me what y'all think, I may go a bit off a bit from the story, maybe bring in an OC later, but for now, I'll try to keep it as canon as I can, without further ado, here we go.**

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"Got the last can!", a voice with a twinge of irritation rang out. The owner of said voice was filling up the soon to be escape vehicle, currently multitasking between insulting the sports car and dumping the contents of the gas can into the car's tank. It'd once belong to, according to the two Georgia locals in their group, legend of the southern US, Jimmy Gibbs Junior, who was now actually nothing more than a corpse and splattered brain matter on the mall's tile floor, much to Ellis' dismay. Sure, he was infected and trying to tear at them, but Ellis just couldn't do it, leaving Nick, the group's resident pessimist and germophobe; to end the infected race car drivers "life". "Hey, that was not cool, man.", Ellis said, a mix of sadness and anger in his voice, however, due to the current situation, decided to drop it for now.

As soon as he finished the thought, he'd become aware of the slight vibration coming from the ground, turning just in time to see their other comrades, Coach and Rochelle, sprinting towards them, a tank not far behind, angrily stumbling after them, it's movements similar to that of a gorilla, a very pissed off gorilla. His thoughts were then interrupted by Nick's annoyed voice, "OVERALLS, GET IN THE DAMN CAR." He basically leaped into the driver's seat, excited, he'd won out, when deciding who would drive, much to Nick's further irritation. "FLOOR IT." The conman shouted in his ear, as Ellis quickly familiarized himself with the car's interior, practically stomping on the clutch, shifting the vehicle into first gear, and then second gear, smashing clear through the plate glass windows of the unfinished mall, the hulking, rage induced infected, within an inch of the car's spoiler. The following afternoon would be nerve-wracking, with Ellis wanting to push the car to it's limits, clearly enjoying himself, and clearly tuning out Nick's constants insults and jeers. Rochelle was initially panicky at Ellis' driving, however the adrenaline that had kept her going, had quickly cleared her system, leaving her quite exhausted, had it not been for the constant jolts the car made when Ellis shifted gears, she could have damn well fallen asleep. Coach on the other hand, was still greatly enjoying this, sharing Ellis' enthusiasm, and for better or worse, fueling it. Sure he'd been saddened over Jimmy's death, but had he not been there, with his stock car, they wouldn't have had a means of escape, and plus, he was riding in his idol's car, and was having a blast, even if he wasn't the one driving.

It'd been a little over an hour or two, who knew, Nick was the only one with a watch, which had been broken from a meeting with what he could've sworn was a relative of Ellis, a Charger. Nick was the one to break the silence. "Alright...So, what are we going to do now?" Ellis, turned to him, a little taken aback. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure, as far as they were concerned, the Military had abandoned them, and though they had gotten the Jimmy Gibbs and escaped, they hadn't thought past that.

"Huh, guess I never bothered to think 'bout that." the southern man lifted his hand from the gearshift to scratch at the stubble on his chin. Rochelle, being the proactive of the group, proceeded to unfold a quite large map of the United states, she'd taken it from the board meeting room in the Vannah hotel, its contents displaying the origin point and spread of the Green Flu. "Well," she started, "Since, New Orleans appears to be the last evac zone standing, we should check it out, according to the map, we need to take an exit off the highway, through a town called 'Rayford' and we'll be on our way. "Nick piped up, "Okay...Guess that's a good as plan as any." Out of everyone in the group, he was starting to be somewhat okay with Rochelle, though when they first met, he had called her "loud girl", least she wasn't as annoying as Ellis, his constant stories about his stupid past and his stupid friend Keith.

Coach interrupted his thoughts with, "Mmm...I hope they have an open Burger Tank." Honestly, the thought was pointless, it was the apocalypse, after all, why would they have restaurant open? Although, considering the grim state of things, it was positive thinking, and it did bring a chuckle from the group. Coach was a likable person, he was just one of those people that everyone got along with, the group wasn't sure what his real name was, or hell, if it was actually Coach. He was their unofficial leader, it made sense, with him being an actual coach, albeit formerly. He quickly grew to like those within his group, immediately bonding with Ellis since they were both from Georgia, and even becoming a sort of older brother figure to Rochelle. Even though he was not originally trusting of Nick back at the hotel, a friendship had formed between the two, through close calls with the deadly Special infected, and other danger. Both Nick and Coach mutually respected each other, although Nick still occasionally tossed jokes in Coach's direction, but he easily ignored the conman's ornery personality. It was settled then, not fifteen minutes later, Ellis made the turnoff onto the off ramp that would take them to the small port town that stood in their path.

 **Elsewhere, in the port town of Rayford...**

She hated him for it, she hated herself for it. It was a vicious cycle. The young woman currently perched on a maintenance platform of an old, rusted truss bridge. Zoey tucked the few strands that dangled in front of her face behind her ear, a futile move, seeing as they would just go back to their original place moments later, it was a habit she'd developed when she was either nervous, upset, or irritated. Right now, she was all three. They had just lost a vital member of their group, their support, a veteran of war, a friend. She stared down at the water, the boat, ironically named, 'One 4 All', was bobbing patiently in the water, waiting to be used. He'd died for it, for them, for the hope that they'd be safe, but in her mind, she feared he died for nothing, that this was all for not, that the keys would be crawling with the infected. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a gruff voice, scratched with years of shouting, drinking, and being a general drunken bar patron.  
"Zoey, he did this for us." the biker simply stated, but before she could turn away from his vacant gaze, before she could retort, he continued, "He-", but before he could get the words out, the pain stricken, sore from crying voice of Zoey shouted,

"What if he's wrong Francis? What if the keys are flooded with those godforsaken things?! What if he died for nothing.?!". At a loss for words, he attempted to speak, going as far as opening his mouth, but she was gone, stomping off towards the other side of the platform, and down onto the somewhat unsteady plank that led into the upstairs living quarters for the two-story bar next to the bridge. Francis stared down at it, the building where he lay, cold and lifeless, sure he and the old man butted heads constantly, a lot more so before this had happened, but he was deeply saddened by his death. Honestly, he wasn't sure what they'd do without his experience. That was one thing Bill had over him, he had experience from the Vietnam war, which proved to be helpful in this apocalypse, he was going to miss him, he let out a long sigh, before turning towards the building, and then to the other side of the bridge, believing he d heard something Zoey had just entered the room. Inside, Louis was sat on a chair, his injured leg elevated, and well bandaged by Zoey.

The former IT tech was lost in thought, pondering over recent events, and what positive outlooks were there to grasp onto. He looked down at his leg and wondered how it was possible to find so many witches in one place, honestly. Zoey then walked into the room, a bit calmed down from her short outburst, she already felt bad, it wasn't Francis' fault, it wasn't anyone's fault. Bill had done this for them, it was his choice, although she couldn't help but feel terrible, she'd been giving him the cold shoulder ever since that incident at Millhaven, abandoning those people, so that it would buy them time to escape. Then a thought rang through her awareness, we look after our own...It wasn't until she snapped out of it, noticing Louis had been glancing up at her, a look of sympathy, and the ever-present optimism that he held. "Hi Louis, how's the leg holding up?" She began. "Oh, it's doing much better now thanks to you. You've gotten pretty good at patching us up, guess you have a lot of opportunities to practice, Eh?" He said, before chuckling. This had done what he'd hoped. A small smile formed on her face, sure it wasn't much more than a small curl of the lips, but this was satisfying nevertheless. Zoey moved towards another chair in the room, just getting into settling down, and reclining, she heard something, Francis, talking...The hell is he talking to? She wondered, before climbing to her feet, and heading out the door, back outside.

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 **A/N, I kinda feel I made Zoey a bit too emotional here, but honestly, she lost someone near and dear to her, almost like a father figure, I dunno, what'd y'all think? ALSO, I apologize for the kinda short chapter, I was testing the waters as it were, I only noticed post-publishing, but don't worry, I'll try to keep the chapters longer from here on out! Onto Chapter two!**


	2. Chapter 2, Through hell and high sewage

**Hi guys, here's Chapter two, started almost immediately after the end of the first one. Hopefully y'all enjoy it, and remember, Francis is not a cop!**

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"BE CALM. WE'RE COPS.", Zoey was sure she'd heard Francis talking to someone, but he wasn't on their usual side of the bridge. Despite her earlier outburst, she decided whatever or whoever he was talking to would be a welcome distraction from _him._ Focusing momentarily, she followed through the sound of his voice through the early evening fog of Raymond, off in the direction of the opposite side of the bridge.

" **I'M TELLIN' YA FOR THE LAST. GODDAMN. TIME. LOWER. THE. GODDAMN. BRIDGE, YOU GREASY VEST WEARING MONKEY**." An extremely pissed off conman shouted, his companions letting out a collective sigh, with Rochelle attempting to defuse the situation. "Nick, getting pissed off isn't going to sol- ", she was interrupted by a voice from up onto the bridge; "Pfft, go to hell, Suit.", the man from up top retorted. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Rochelle practically shoved Nick aside, turning her head to regard the biker. "I'm sorry about him, can you lower the bridge, please?", she asked. The biker seemed to immediately compose himself, straightening his posture, before replying in a more thoughtful voice, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't.", before he could elaborate, another figure walked up beside the man, already beginning to grasp the situation. Ellis, who for the most part, hadn't been really focusing on anything, except for the various scratches and slightly bent up hood of the Jimmy Gibbs, happened to glance up towards the bridge, having taken in the new face that appeared beside that biker man. Within mere moments, Ellis was completely dumbstruck, standing there, mouth slightly agape; Standing before him was what must have been an angel, the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on, rendering him speechless. Up on the bridge, Zoey slightly cocked an eyebrow at the group, having now taken in the fact that one was staring at her like a deer in headlights, she returned the glance, causing the young man to panic, and hide beneath the brim of his hat. She couldn't tell from here, but he appeared to be the youngest in the group, appearing to be in the somewhat same age group as her, however, rationality took over, reminding her there were much bigger problems to worry about rather than drooling over a boy. Her newly developed leadership side took over, the side created to fill the void of his absence, allowing her to immediately take control of the situation. "I'm Sorry, but there's no way for us to lower the bridge, we have injured, and the generator on the other side is out, however, if you all can reach the other side and reactivate it, we'll cover you, and help where we can.", she finished. Ellis was further overwhelmed by this girl; Damn, she had the voice of an angel too, he thought he ought to say something, but just couldn't muster up the courage, and simply let Rochelle thank them, despite being in his current baffled state, he noticed how Ro' looked when she talked to that biker man, and how a certain man in a suit reacted with an annoyed facial expression, he wasn't gonna lie, it was pretty amusing to see. Coach, who had, for the most part, paid attention to the conversation, was now focused on their surroundings, taken note of a sign that offered beneficial information, he began to read aloud. "Historic Rayford scenic under the river tour…", before finishing with, "Guess'n that's our ticket to the other side, folks. Let's roll.", he called to the others. The group at this point, was running low on ammo after the nightmare that was the mall, armed with only a fire axe and a Desert Eagle, the four turned and began walking in the direction of the tour, Coach having taken note of Ellis' behavior, "Why didn't cha' introduce yourself, young'un?", the former coach asked. "U-uh, Oh, well, I just couldn't Coach, I mean, did you see her? She is an angel, I ain't never seen a girl like that.", Coach, with a raised eyebrow replied, "Boy, you've been killin' zombies for the better part of two weeks, you can talk to a girl…". Ellis turned away, scratching at the back of his neck, "Nah man, I can't, she'd probably never go for a dumb country rub like me.", and with a collective sigh from both Coach an Rochelle, and a snicker from Nick, the group trudged into the depths of downtown Rayford.

It'd been an uneventful thirty minutes, the dreary atmosphere could almost be considered peaceful, if not for the cries of the common infected as they charged at the survivors in murderous rage. For the most part, conversation was absent, minus the occasional call out from on the group's behalf, alerting each other of any nearby special infected, it had been a silent trip. The finally came up to something different, an open door, with a neon lit sign advertising the building's status as a bar, just as they began to step into the building however, there was a sudden rush, and sound of a horn to the left, quickly turning, the speeding object tore down the closed off road at break-neck speed. Ellis piped up, "…Was that...?", having taken note of the color scheme of the Midnight Riders' tour bus, or at least he thought it was, it was moving way too fast to be sure. Coach replied with, "Nah, it couldn't a' been. Must be seeing things…", Ellis attempted to answer, but was quickly cut off by Nick. "Hey, chop, chop, let's move, I'm bored of this boring ass town already, plus, my suit's getting drenched!". Rochelle scoffed, before looking him up and down, noticing how ruined the once white, now off-white suit was, but decided against stating the obvious, to avoid anymore delays. Coach and Ellis obeyed, turning back to head indoors. "Alright, guns!" Coach called, reaching for his signature favorite, a Remington 870 Marine, checking the amount of ammo left, and was then dissatisfied by the 8 remaining shells, "Best make 'em count...", he said more to himself than anyone else. Nick was delighted to finally have a weapon himself, reaching for a long-forgotten Uzi, pleased to find a few spare magazines, he loaded one in, and proceeded to rack the slide. Upon headed upstairs, Coach taking point, they entered what seemed to be an average room, minus the object on the mattress placed on the floor. "...A suitcase full'a pistols n' money...!", Coach sang out, chuckling to himself. Inside was indeed an assortment consisting of a Desert Eagle, a couple of P220 SAO's, and a Glock 26; and, less important, several stacks of hundred-dollar bills. Nick let out a low whistle when noticing the cash, but all things considered, was glad to take a sidearm. With everyone in the group armed, they moved on. It was comforting having something more than just an axe in his hands, Ellis wasn't exactly going to take a swing at that witch they'd successfully managed to sneak by earlier, he just couldn't get his mind off that girl, man was she something, he belittled himself for not speaking up, hoping it would not be a costly mistake. Lost in thought, he was quickly snapped out of it due to bumping into Nick, not knowing he'd stopped, eliciting an angered response from the conman, "Wake up, Cletus.". "Sorry Nick, I was goin' into my own head I 'spose.", Ellis replied. Nick didn't even bother, too preoccupied with getting to the next Saferoom, he was tired from walking. As luck would have it, a sturdy door consisting of a mass of rivets and red painted metal appeared before them. "Everyone, inside!", Coach ordered, the rest of the group happily obliged, slamming the heavy door behind the last person.

Back at the bridge, Zoey had, with nothing besides Francis' constant rants about how vampires were 'totally real', she delved back into her thoughts. She was beginning to accept it, what good would it do her to keep sulking, she needed to pick herself up, with Bill gone, she couldn't show weakness, she had to step up. Zoey looked blankly towards the direction the new faces had left, she wasn't going to lie, she hoped they'd make it back. She wasn't like him, though she wanted to look after their own, protect her flock, she couldn't just abandon those people, that side of her had not gone away, though not as prominent anymore. Letting out a long sigh, this caused Francis to pause and glance towards her. "Zoey, are you..?", before he could finish the thought, "Yeah, Francis, I'm good…We have to help those people, they could be back soon, we should make sure we're well stocked up on ammunition so we can help them.", she glanced at the building where Bill was, and cringed, ever so slightly. She turned and headed inside to an extremely confused Louis. There, she proceeded to explain the story, the survivors, and their agreement. Louis, of course, accepted this and met it with positivity, despite his injured leg, he wanted to help, and would do so in any way he could.

 **Elsewhere…**

"This is the tour?", Ellis groaned, "I was hoping it'd have rides…", earning him a confused look from his fellow companions. "Ellis, sweetie, It's a tour, not a carnival. Though I won't lie, it's not a very impressive tour." Rochelle stated. Indeed, it wasn't all that interesting, looked more like someone's basement, rather than anything interesting, just old wooden pillars, and pipes. Soon enough, they'd reached the end of phase one, entering a doorway with a sign posted next to it labeled, _'Phase two'._ "Man, I hope phase two is more interestin' than phase o- ", before he could even finish the thought, the metal stairway they'd been descending, ended torn apart, leaving a good ten feet or so drop, directly into sewage water. Nick was the first to object, "Are you serious? Nuh-uh, no way in hell am I going down there.", Coach rolled his eyes, "Nick, now ain't the time for this shit, we gotta get movin'.", This, didn't work, "Coach, do you know what could be down there? God only knows what the hell is under that wate- ", Nick was interrupted, surprisingly, by Ellis, leaving everyone baffled, and Nick, pissed. "AH, JESUS CHRIST. OVERALLS.", the conman spat, his words dripping with white lightning. "Sorry, Nick, but I wanna get back to her man!", whether Ellis was referring to the car or girl was unknown, but it had worked, the others jumped down after Nick, who was on the verge of drowning the southerner in the knee level filth. Coach, catching his glare warned, "Nick, kill the boy later, not gonna lie though, you look like shit.", he snickered, causing laughter to erupt from everyone except Nick, who retorted with, "Yeah, Hahah, very funny.", despite this, the survivors trudged forward, ascending a ladder to solid, concrete ground, to Nick's relief, which was temporary, when he realized that not only would they have to get back in the sewage water to continue, but now there was the added annoyance of an alarm. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.", he growled through clenched teeth. A few minutes of preparation left, the alarm button was hit, the horde incoming, and the survivors back to sloshing through knee deep shit water in an attempt to reach the safehouse, which seemed so far away, but eventually, they'd made it, the door, slamming behind them.

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 **A/N Well, that was surprisingly not much longer than the last chapter, really felt longer to me, Huh. It was a really small detail, but I tried to keep from using Bill's name often in the beginning, attempting to show that Zoey had yet to accept it, though if you noticed, she did eventually use it, showing she'd come to terms with what happened~ Also, I just wanted to state that this chapter marks the end of canon events, next chapter will veer off course, leading to a different storyline than the one we got, still gonna follow the campaigns order. Another thing is, I did leave out some parts of the Passing Campaign here, I felt like narrating all of the sub-levels in the campaign was just pointless, so I summarized it, with hints to what occurred, such as the dreaded witch wedding! Anywhos, that does it for Chapter two, I hope y'all enjoyed, expect Chapter three sooner or later. Until then, see y'all later :)**


	3. Chapter 3, The Port

**Hey guys. Here it is, the chapter that kicks off a different storyline. I've been typing away ever since I posted Chapter two, and have tried to make this one a bit longer, which I hope y'all enjoy. I also noticed something that irked me on a personal level, the way I formatted things last time, it was just sloppy, with that being said, I've reformatted. Without further chatter, let's get onto the story!**

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Things had just begun to calm down in the saferoom, It had taken Coach physically holding Nick back for a solid fifteen minutes, while Nick hurled expletives, and 'hick' related insults. Finally, Nick just sighed, and after assuring Coach he wouldn't sprint to strangle the boy, Coach released him. About an hour of strained silence later, the survivors began to prepare for their upcoming battle, Coach chimed in,

"Well, well, well, it's showtime, Ellis.", Coach teased, with a grin on his face as he methodically began to load his Remington.

It'd been a good two hours in the saferoom, though the group had for the most part dried off, Ellis was still damp, having been sweating bullets, panicking on trying to figure out what to say. He knew he couldn't just say nothing this time b, he had to step up, and talk to her at least. His attempts to mentally psych himself up, were cut short by another one of Nick's snarky comments,

"What? No, no. Ellis had his chance, and he screwed it up,", the conman winked at Ellis before continuing, "Time for Nick to show you how it's done.", earning a glare from the Georgia local.

"Oh, come on, Nick. Doubt she'd talk to a man who still has sewage on his face.", Rochelle retorted, before turning to Ellis, "Honey, you'll do fine, just be your sweet self, Okay?", Ellis nodded, before moving eagerly to the door and popping off the latch, letting it hit the floor with a loud _thunk,_ before pushing the door open, and stepping out into the light drizzle of Rayford, an air of confidence, and a twinge of sewer, around him. The group of four walked up the stairs, to be greeted by the faces of a group of three. The biker man, and girl from earlier, but now joined with a man, who was sat down, with what appeared to be a bandaged leg wound. The girl, who seemed to be in charge, initiated the conversation.

"Well, hello there!", she said politely, taking in the tired looks of the survivors, but was surprised to see the young man from earlier reply back, he had a thick southern drawl.

"Well, uh, Hello, my name's Ellis, some people call me El, but uh I prefer Ellis, cause y'know, El sounds like a girl's name, but y'all can call me El if ya want.", realizing he was rambling, he continued with the introductions," …and uh, uhm, this is Coach, Rochelle, and Nick.", Ellis finished. Zoey nodded at the respective person as they were introduced, before introducing herself and her friends.

"Name's Zoey, these are my friends, Francis,", she referred to the biker man, "…and Louis.", she finished, referring to the wounded man. Rochelle took note of the group, smiling at Francis before showing a look of genuine concern towards Louis.

"So, he was the injured one you mentioned earlier, is he alright?", Rochelle asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm okay now, I uh, had an unfortunate encounter with a den of witches!", Louis laughed, before adding, "Thanks for your concern though."

Nick, just about having had it with the drawn out meet n' greet, took control of the situation with,

"Alright, alright, alright, can we end the little introductions? We get it, we also need to get the damn bridge lowered.", Zoey, again, just glared at Nick, Francis was about to say something, but Zoey shot out a hand in front of him, ceasing his advance.

"Okay, you're gonna need to take the elevator down to get to the ground, once you're down there, we'll provide covering fire for you while you refuel the generators.", Zoey stated.

"Alright, thank ya miss, uh, I mean- I mean, Zoey.", Ellis stuttered.

The group turned away and headed for the elevator, Zoey wishing them good luck as they boarded the lift. Coach pressed the button, the old lift whirred to life, clanging as it descended. Again, noticing Ellis was unfocused.

"Ellis, mind on the cans, not the girl, Okay? We need to get this done quickly.", Coach warned. Ellis simply nodded.

The lift reached the ground floor, the survivors sprinting off the lift, moving out into the courtyard where the first generator rested, Ellis and Nick glanced around, before noticing a shape in the dark of one of the generator rooms, turning on his flashlight, Nick focused the beam on the corpse of an old man, dressed in an old army uniform. From the looks of it, it was one hell of a fight. The light then glinted on the metal of an M16, Nick moved to take it from the old man, Ellis stopped him.

"Nick…", he started, but Nick cut him off, "Don't get all sentimental on me, Overalls, old guy's dead, he won't be needing it!", Ellis just glared at him, "Man, it just ain't right, I wouldn't disturb his rest…", Nick wanted to argue, he wanted to hit Ellis for being so sentimental in a zombie apocalypse, but breathlessly, and annoyed, ended the conversation with, "Fine.", before walking back outside, Ellis following suit.

"Get your ass movin' y'all!", Coach hollered, he and Rochelle already handling a gas can each, spurring the two into action, Nick and Ellis splitting up in different directions, off on a hunt for fuel for the generators. Watching from their elevated perch above, Zoey, Francis, and Louis (When he could anyways), began picking off the scattered infected. Zoey's noticed something in her peripherals, turning in the direction to where Ellis was, there was something behind him,

"Ellis, look out beh- What the hell is that?!" She shouted, bewildered. It resembled what was once a woman, but it appeared to be dripping some kind of noxious, bright green fluid from its mouth, or what was left of its mouth. It had a sort of bird walk as it scrambled in range of the southerner, before anyone had a chance to react, it appeared to stoop, and then shot out some of the green 'spit', in Ellis' direction. With the warning from Zoey, he had been about halfway turned around, had she not warned him, it would've hit him spot on, only grazing his shoulder and forearm.

"Ah shit, Spitter goo!", Ellis hollered, nearly dropping the gas can he'd been lugging out of reflex, but thankfully, held onto it with his free arm. Zoey noticed as soon as the spit had made contact with the sleeve of his shirt, it'd began disintegrating on contact, and the skin below began to visibly burn and blister up. Zoey quickly dropped the disgusting creature responsible, the thing letting out a screech, along with a small pool of it's acid, as it died.

"Thanks, Zoey!", Ellis called. She only had the time to simply nod, before aiming down the sight of her Mini-14, to pick off the straggling commons. Ellis then heard another shout from up top, the injured man, Louis.

"Hey, man! Take this, it'll help with the pain until you can get fixed up!", the tech shouted, throwing down a small bottle of pain pills.

"Thanks, Louis, I really appreciate it!", Ellis said as he stooped to pick up the pain relievers, before turning quickly to get back in the game and assist his friends, who were a little agitated with having to play pit crew to a generator while hordes of pissed off infected swarmed at them.

Over the course of the next hour, the survivors had lost count of the number of cans they'd gathered at this point, but Ellis, after peering down the fuel cap into the tank, reckoned they only needed about two more to do it. Before the four could scatter again, the ground began to shake, something they were all, unfortunately familiar with.

"TAAAAAANK.", Zoey shouted, being the first to see it through her zoomed in scope. She took aim and began firing off shots, landing wounds near in the tank's irritated, fleshy mass of a shoulder. In turn, Ellis, Ro', Nick, and Coach turned around to begin attempting to fight off the beast as well.

"Split up, go!", Coach ordered, the group scattering, further pissing off the rage-fueled monster, as it frantically attempted to decide who to focus on. It'd been Ellis who found a can first, he'd been wandering down into an alley, past a nonfunctioning generator, his eyes catching on the bright orange and red color scheme of one.

"Hey y'all, I got one!", he hollered, using his now good arm, he began hurrying back. The arm that was hit by the Spitter was not burning anymore thankfully, but goddamn, he wouldn't lie, it was sore as hell. He had to focus right now, his friends were counting on it. He was expecting the tank, he wasn't expecting the prowling hood wearing infected that crouched nearby, waiting for its opportunity.

"AH HELL, GET 'EM OFF!", Ellis panicked, attempting to keep the things claws from disemboweling him, for the most part, successful, though both his good arm, and bad arm suffered for it, as the hunter tore into them, desperately trying to finish what it'd started. It wouldn't get the chance however, as the .233 cartridge connected with it's skull, showering blood, skull fragments, and brain matter all over the nearby concrete wall. Ellis shoved the dead weight off, now extremely aware of the pain in both arms, he soldiered on, barely managing to tip his hat to the pretty brunette he'd fantasized about over the course of the night in downtown Raymond. Despite being focused on getting the can to the others, as well as trying to focus on not focusing on the pain in his arms, he thought about Zoey. _Man, she looks good with that gun, girl can_ shoot _…_

His daydreaming was cut short when he realized he'd made it back to the generator. Tearing off the jerry can's cap, he, not very gracefully, began dumping gasoline down into the fuel tank. That was when he'd noticed it, where the hell were his friends? He didn't see no corpse of a tank, nor his buddies anywhere. He turned to see Francis up top, reloading his Remington 870. "Hey, Francis, which way did they go?", he inquired. The biker looked up.

"Ah, they were getting chased by the tank, that way. That's one hell of a tank, I tell ya.", he said casually. Ellis looked in the direction Francis had been pointing. Concrete barriers lined the road, except for one, which was now toppled onto it's side, he took off in that direction, brandishing his favorite axe, attempting to muffle the groans of pain that escaped his throat. He had to help them, then they could get out, he could rest later. A small part of him wondered if he looked bad-ass to Zoey, he shook the immature thought, and continued past the fallen barrier.

"LIGHT THAT MOTHER UP.", Coach yelled, firing off shots at the hulking mass of flesh and muscle. This was one bad tank, they'd faced many, but this one was tough. They were dishing out a lot of firepower, but it appeared to be able to take the beating well. Ellis had to think fast, taking aim, chucking his axe towards the beast's back, the motion sending searing, white hot pain through his arms. The axe found it's mark, digging into it's spine, of course, barely causing the tank to flinch. This however, was the plan, Ellis had its attention, allowing the other three survivors to unload on the tank, giving time for the Rochelle, Nick, and Coach to split up, and enclose the tank in a triangle of constant gunfire. Attempting to fight back, swinging its massive arms did nothing, as the survivors were just out of range, or ducked out of the way in the nick of time, and eventually, the monster fell, with nothing more than a defeated growl. Guns still smoking, the three caught their breath. Rochelle noticing the Ellis' wounds, but before she was able to question him, they heard it. Another horde would soon be on it's way. With little time to spare, the four moved back to the generator; Thankfully, when the tank chased them, it had unknowingly chased them in the direction of the last can, with Nick just barely catching it's red and orange tint. Pouring the last of the can in while the others provided covering fire, Ellis then proceeded to close the cap, and practically smashed the button labeled _START._ The pain in his limbs was immense, but thankfully, adrenaline had begun flooding in, like the horde, giving him temporarily sweet, numbing bliss.

"That was the last one, we gotta move!", he shouted over the sound of trampling footsteps. As he said this, the massive bridge began to crank as it slowly descended. Ellis slightly slouched his shoulders, they had done it, they'd made it. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was, and anxious to get into the comfy seating of the Jimmy Gibbs.

Then, without warning, and interrupting his thoughts, it happened. The generator sparked, the mechanical noises of the bridge ceased, and smoke began to plume from the exhaust vents on the generator.

"Ah shit, that ain't good.", Ellis panicked, desperately trying to restart the generator, but it wasn't working.

Back up on the balcony, Zoey froze up. The bridge had stopped about halfway down, just low enough to where the infected could swarm it, and just out of reach for their fellow survivors' stock car. She was having flashbacks, causing her to hyperventilate, she couldn't stomach the thought of another sacrifice. No, it wouldn't come to that, but what could she do? The infected were currently climbing up onto the bridge from the other side and sprinting towards them. It wouldn't be long before the second floor of the building was breached as well, a simple jump from the bridge platform would let them over, and with a horde that size…. She shook the thought, and hurriedly came up with an idea. Turning to Francis,

"Francis, get Louis onto the boat, NOW.", she barked. Francis, startled by the request and just starting to understand the severity of the situation simply asked, "What about the others?", she answered his question not with words, but by sprinting across the flimsy board that connected them to the bridge, and down the ladder, onto the streets below. There was no stopping her, Francis decided it'd just be best to comply. Helping Louis, they scrambled for the boat on the shore.

It was beginning to dawn on the Ellis, Coach, Ro', and Nick how screwed they were, or would've been, had it not been for a young woman in a red sweatshirt ordering them to follow her. Tired and weary, they complied. Climbing down the bank under the bridge and making a mad dash for a sailboat. With Zoey being the last to hop on, she quickly moved to the helm and started to move them away from the shore, and into deeper waters, with only a moment to spare, as the infected began to swarm down the bank, in a cascading wave of infected.

It'd been a solid hour since their grand escape aboard the sailboat, One 4 All, the now expanded group was scattered amongst the ship, Nick sitting by himself on deck, staring at the occasional zombie thinking it could reach them, tumbling off the bridge to it's death in the process, Coach, Rochelle, Francis, and Louis were swapping stories on their survival thus far, leaving Zoey and Ellis alone in the cabin below, Zoey dressing Ellis' wounds.

"What in the hell was that thing?", she asked, examining the damage it's 'spit' had done to Ellis' bicep and shoulder.

"Oh uh, that was what we call a Spitter, nasty thing really, got this acidic stomach acid n' all. Loves to hock a loogie at ya, shit burns like fire I tell ya.", he stated, before continuing, "Reminds me of this one time my buddy Keith and I tried to make fireworks, see now, I didn't know shit about chemistry, still don't really, well, Keith got the idea that well gasoline burns right? So, we used gasoline, and Ohoho, man, he had third degree burns on ninety-five percent of his body.", he finished before laughing.

"Pfft…Really?! Man, that dude is messed up!", she retorted, before laughing herself. It felt good, it'd been a while since she'd laughed. "Alright, Ellis, you're all patched up, should start healing within a day or two, burns weren't the degree of Keith's, but they were pretty close!", Zoey stated. That did it, Ellis, if he hadn't of already, had fallen for her. She listened to his stories with interest, not shooting him down like the others did, hell, she even laughed, the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

Realizing he'd been silent, he snapped out of it, "OH, uh, thanks Zoey, I appreciate it.", they sat in comfortable silence, both seemingly lost in deep thought, before Ellis broke the silence himself;

"So, where were you when shit hit the fan?", a pained expression fixed itself on her face for a moment, causing Ellis to immediately stutter out, "Oh shit, if I brought up any bad memories, I didn't mean to- ", but she raised a hand to him, before answering with, "Don't worry about it. I was up in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. I was with my folks when one of those things burst through the door, and attacked my mother, moments later, she turned infected, attacked my dad, and…", she trailed off, trying to speak in a matter of fact sort of tone, which completely dropped off into a pained stutter and a sniffle.

He felt bad, he didn't mean to bring up any bad memories, and doing the only sensible thing he could think of, it was almost an unconscious move, one which even caught him off guard. He wrapped his arms around her. She sat there, not really reacting, she didn't know how to. She hated feeling like this, sobbing in front of someone she hardly knew, probably thought she was a wimp, but despite herself, she found herself returning the hug, and after a few minutes, she pulled away, slightly embarrassed, but feeling much better, the good feeling overwhelming the embarrassment, "Thanks.", she smiled.

They talked until well past dusk, laughing, recounting funny stories from their past, the conversation drifting towards the apocalypse, and the infected.

"So, that new Spitter thing is a real piece of work, I'm only used to dealing with Hunters, Smokers, Tanks, Boomers, and witches… ", Ellis looked at her quizzically, "You mean to tell me, you haven't seen the other Special infected?", he asked. Zoey looked worried, "There's more now…?", she asked.

Ellis then proceeded to explain the infected she'd yet to see yet, the Jockey and Charger, both snickering immaturely about why the Charger would have one big arm. After all was said and done, Zoey let out a yawn, before rising to her feet and stretching. "I'm gonna head up top, look at the situation we're in.", she said, Ellis simply replied with an, "Alright, Zo.", and with that, she vanished up on deck, leaving the young southerner alone with his thoughts.

Conversations on the boat had settled, many for the most part, were resting, exhausted from the day's events. Zoey found Francis leaning on the railing, staring up at the bridge, a collective set of angered groans and shouts from the commons still present.

"Hey Francis. How is it looking over there?", she asked.

"Oh, well, looks like they haven't dispersed yet, also, you made a good call.", Francis stated, before referring to the balcony where they'd been, what they thought was high up and safe, was crawling with the infected. "Yeah, there ain't as many as there were at first, but it's gonna be a few days before we can get back on land, guess we'll wait 'em out.", Francis stated, finishing his thought. Zoey simply nodded, before turning back to head down in the cabin. She walked in, expecting Ellis to be there with that goofy looking grin, ready to hear whatever she would have to say, but no, he was there, but he'd fallen fast asleep, she guessed whatever adrenaline was running through him, had finally wore off, leaving him out cold. Rolling her eyes, she took a seat close by, leaning her head on the cabin wall, not long after, drifting off herself.

Zoey awoke, with a groan, though her sleep was peaceful, no dreams; The sleeping position she'd chosen was a mistake, attempting to sort out the crink in her neck, she stood, popping her back with a satisfied sigh. She looked over at Ellis, who was still asleep, his hat had fallen off his head, laying on the floor. She stooped to pick it up, examining the tow truck on the front, before placing it on the table beside him. Deciding it best to let him sleep, she walked out onto the cold, gray morning sky that was normal for Raymond. Coach had taken over watch, leaving Francis to go catch up on sleep. "Mornin'.", the man called quietly. "Morning.", she replied. "Sleep well?"

"I did, miss, thank ya for askin', and thank ya for saving our asses back there. We've been through hell and back, but I don't think we could'a taken on that horde by ourselves.", Coach stated.

Zoey smiled before saying, "Don't mention it. It's gonna be another couple of days while we wait for that horde to clear out, afterwards, we'll see if we can find out what's wrong with that generator."

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be all good, that young'un we got was a mechanic after all.", Coach added.

"Ellis?", she asked. "Guess that explains why that other guy calls him overalls a lot.", she chuckled.

"Oh, you mean Nick? Yeah, he can be an ass, but he still a part of this team, saved my ass a good few times. He's just a little tough to figure out at first.", Coach replied.

"That's for sure.", she added wearily. She nodded to the former football coach before turning to head back in the cabin. Ellis was still asleep, as was everyone else, she figured it would be best to just go back to sleep herself, there wasn't much she could really do, they were on a boat out on a water channel, infected still gathered on either shore.

The day would be uneventful and quiet. Everyone eventually woken up, the group unanimously agreeing that if they found a coffee pot when they returned to the shore, they would bring it on board. After spending most of her morning chatting with Ellis about nothing in particular, she found herself glancing at those around her, an amused smirk forming on her face at the sight of Francis talking to Rochelle, it was an interesting sight indeed.

"Yeah, I hate boats too, and Islands.", the biker stated before continuing, "Which is why I still hate this plan."

Rochelle laughed, adding in, "Yeah, I hate this boat too, I hate that generator."

"Stupid generator.", Francis replied. The two then proceeded to laugh.

Ellis had noticed now too, he like seeing Ro' laughing for once, it was honestly something he'd not seen in a while, initially, he didn't trust that biker, especially after Coach said he'd try to steal the Jimmy Gibbs, but he made Rochelle happy, and he was content with that. He'd also noticed Nick, Coach, and Louis talking, Nick looking reluctant to be social, but was managing. He shook his head, chuckling before turning to Zoey. "I ever tell you about the time my buddy Keith- ", he was cut off by Nick's ice-cold glare.

"Ellis, I swear to god, if you go on one of your hillbilly incest stories right now, I will throw you overboard. It's one thing being trapped on a boat with zombies all around, it's another to be trapped on a boat with zombies around and some hillbilly hick telling his godawful stories."

Ellis rolled his eyes before replying, "Okay."

Nick had caught Zoey's glare in his direction, matching his own. "Hey, something wrong cupcake? Don't like me messin' with your boyfriend, Billy joe bob?"

She huffed, flustered, before turning to head inside, Ellis following after her, giving Nick a tired, but clearly very irritated glance.

"Man, that guy is an asshole.", she growled.

"Yeah, but I'm used to it. He can be a cool guy if you get to know him- ", she added with a raised eyebrow,

"Ellis, he called you a hillbilly hick and probably does it often if I'm not mistaken. Seems more like a patronizing asshole than a 'cool' guy.", she finished.

"Eh, like I said, used to it, and plus, just talk, don't really bother me none.", he added. "Now if he talks shit about Jimmy Gibbs, then, I'll have to retort, no one talks bad about Jimmy Gibbs!"

"The car…?", she asked, slightly confused. It was apparent that Zoey had never heard of Ellis' racing idol, so he spent the new few minutes rambling about who he was, and how they'd gotten the car in the first place."

"No way! You just rammed it straight through the plate glass window?!", she asked, astonished.

"Well yeah, had to gas her up, and I don't think it was gon' fit through the doors.", he laughed.

"Sounds bad-ass, dude. Reminds me of this one time where we had to take an armored delivery truck, like, it looked just like that one from Dawn of the Dead!", Ellis looked slightly taken aback. The conversation casually shifted to movies, and Zoey's flunking college career.

"A film director?", Ellis asked, before adding, "Yeah, I could see that…Damn apocalypse, ruinin' stuff."

"Oh please, I just sat in my dorm watching movies all day.", Zoey laughed, before continuing, "My dad supported my love for movies, but he wanted me to be a cop, hell, even took me down to the range many times growing up."

"Oh, so that explains why you're one hell of a shot, a real Annie Oakley!", Ellis remarked. Zoey punched his arm playfully, immediately regretting it seeing Ellis wince.

"Oh shit, Ellis, I'm sorry.", she said looking down, only to look back up to that goofy grin.

"Aw, come on now, it's all good. Pretty sure I'll live.", he joked, both sharing a laugh.

Two days passed without incident, that night, the group gathered around the rear of the ship, sharing drinks and laughs, sitting on the benches. Zoey enjoyed it, it felt nice to have people gather together, sharing laughs, it was almost as if the world had never ended.

Coach began passing out drinks to all who cared for one, sure alcohol wasn't that much of a priority, but Francis had managed to sneak some on board days before. Upon reaching Zoey and Ellis, Ellis graciously accepted one, before grabbing what was to be Zoey's can, and holding it up.

"Naw, come on. I don't think this girl is twenty-one!", he teased, standing and holding the can humorously above his head. "Ellis!", Zoey complained, an exaggerated pout, "I am over twenty-one!", Ellis laughed before sitting back down, and handing her the can. "Just messin' with ya, don't y'all go and tell any cops now, y'hear?" Everyone in the group laughed, even Nick, who was already a can or two in, cracked a smirk. The night went off without a hitch, good times and good spirits. It was well, late, when Ellis, who'd insist he was only buzzed, having downed about four and a half cans, decided he was going to crash. Zoey decided to remain outside with the others, a smile on her flushed face, listening intently to Coach's tales of the survivors' experience with the Vannah hotel and later, the mall. The night dragged on, more and more faces vanished as people turned in. Zoey eventually stumbled to the cabin, leaving Coach, Nick, and Francis to drunkenly converse. She didn't remember hardly anything, not even practically collapsing onto the bench with Ellis, or that's what she thought happened.

She woke up with her head throbbing, she'd drank too much, as she wearily opened her eyes, she found herself looking at a shirt with the logo 'Bullshifters' on it, only to realize, she was on top of Ellis, her face not far from his, and immediately, she panicked, falling off of him, in quite an ungraceful attempt at trying to catch herself, she landed face first on the floor of the cabin, letting out a groan.

To her surprise, Ellis hadn't hardly stirred. She got up on unsteady legs, confirming he was in fact still breathing. She sighed, before turning to head out of the cabin. Noticing many of the group was already up, she found Coach, Rochelle, and Nick staring at her, sly smirks on Coach's and Rochelle's faces.

"Have fun last night?", Ro' asked playfully.

"What?", she asked confused, Nick chuckling before replying,

"We saw you, looked pretty comfortable sleeping on top of Overalls in there.", he chuckled, the other two joining in. Zoey's face immediately lit up, "Shut up.", is all she could muster, sulking over to grab some water to drink and clear her throbbing head. Retrieving a small bottle of water, she walked past them, but before she could walk out, Coach stopped her.

"I noticed that the horde has died down out there, how about you go take a bottle in there to Ellis and work on gettin' the boy up. We'd best plan our next moves.", the older man said.

Zoey nodded, before walking back to grab another bottle of water, and proceeding back to where Ellis was sleeping. Waking him up would be no easy task, it took about a minute and a half of shaking him by the shoulders, followed by another attempt after he fell back asleep.

"Ellis…", Zoey groaned, before an idea popped into her head, something she should've tried from the beginning. Unscrewing the cap off one of the bottles, she began to pour water on the unconscious southerner's face, being careful not to make a mess. This worked, Ellis got up in a half-assed jolt, an action he regretted immediately, grasping his pounding head. He looked up to Zoey with an amused look on her face, with a bottle outstretched towards him.

"That wasn't nice.", he said, though she could detect no anger in his voice. He laughed.

"Hell, of a wakeup call though.", he finished, before accepting the bottle of water and chugging it, enjoying the ice-cold liquid.

"Well, if you're ready, we need to head up, Coach wants to plan our next move.", she said casually.

"Yeah, sure.", was Ellis' reply, slowly rising to his feet, and pulling his hat low to shield his eyes from that godforsaken sun. He walked out to his friends, all looking much better than he felt.

"Mornin' y'all.", Ellis said, taking note of Coach, Nick, and Rochelle, already awake and alert. Coach responded, "Mornin' Ellis, sleep alright?", a faint twinge of amusement in his voice, "Well uh, despite the hangover, yeah, I'm slept pretty good, why'd ya ask?", he looked quizzically at the two men and woman who were now smiling. Nick was the one to speak up this time, "Yeah, bet you did sleep pretty well, y'know, having your girlfriend over there on top of you.", Zoey's face immediately flushed, her cheeks now close to the color of her sweatshirt.

Taking notice of the girl's embarrassment, Coach quickly cut the teasing and changed the subject, his commanding tone demanding their attention.

"Alright y'all, enough. We need to plan out what we're going to do. Ellis, how are your arms doin'?"

Ellis looked down at the bandaged limbs with a thoughtful expression, "Eh well, they kinda ache still, but I think I can make it, what're we doing?"

Rochelle spoke up this time, "We planned this earlier, Ellis, I know you talked of being a mechanic back at the hotel, so you might be able to fix that generator."

"Uh…I mean, it's probably not the same as a car engine, but I can try…?", he said unsure of himself.

"Well looks like that's the best chance we've got. Don't get me wrong, people. I've enjoyed the rest and relaxation, the booze, and the good times, but today, we need to count our ammunition, and make plans to head inland, clear?", Everyone nodded in Coach's direction.

"Alright, I'll go and wake Francis and Louis up, then we can start from there.", Zoey added. She took a long look at the port where it'd all gone down, the infected were clearly beginning to move on, but only time would tell what else was over there.

* * *

 **A/N, Well there's Chapter three down. I hope I wasn't too uh cringy with the way things played out between the two lovebirds. I swear, Zoey and Ellis are just adorable together. I know I'm only three chapters in, but I'm already a bit drained, so I'm gonna try to reframe from rushing to get these out day after day, I wanna make the story interesting, after all. Don't worry though, I've got a plan for where the story's headed. That about does it for me, hope y'all enjoyed, and I hope the way it was formatted was easier on the eyes, I dunno, to me, the last chapters felt all jumbled up, tried to correct it here. Anyways, until next time. :)**


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